By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
ssoldan@mihomepaper.com
Ortonville — Q’s Quilting is now open in downtown Ortonville.
“I have lived in Ortonville for over 23 years and absolutely love it,” said owner Nicole Quisenberry. “Ortonville is a great place to have a local business and the people are amazing.”
Q’s Quilting, 470 Mill St., carries fabric and quilting supplies for quilting, sewing and crafting.
“Customers come in for all kinds of fabrics to then go home and make a quilt,” said Quisenberry. “Lots of quilters have a group of friends that get together on a regular basis and sew together. The groups also like to shop together, so it is common for these groups to come in to Q’s quilting together.”
Quisenberry said her interest in quilting came over 24 years ago, along with her Godchild.
“My best friend was pregnant and I knew I was going to be the baby’s Godmother,” she said. “I was so excited and wanted to make my first quilt for the newborn. I went to a friend, who was a quilter, and she let me borrow her sewing machine and helped me purchase fabrics and all the necessities that I needed to make my first quilt. She of course instructed me as well. I loved making this very special quilt and loved the reaction of her mom when I gave it to her.”
Since then, Quisenberry joined a quilting group with her mom, aunts, friends and sister-in-law. They as a quilting group go on retreats, group sewings and shopping excursions to quilt shops.
“When I retired from my career of 27 years in the public sector, I was not quite sure of what I was going to do,” she said. “Then 470 Mill Street came up for sale, and being that it was a quilting shop before, that we were all saddened that it closed, the opportunity arose. I am now starting a second career of my life, which makes me very happy.”
Q’s Quilting is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
“The downtown is adorable and all the local shop owners are supportive and complimentary to each other,” she said. “We all want Ortonville to be an extraordinary village.”